


Flight Risk

by quentintarrantino



Series: 00Q Daemon!verse [1]
Category: Skyfall (2012) - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Daemons, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-12
Updated: 2013-03-12
Packaged: 2017-12-05 01:54:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/717506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quentintarrantino/pseuds/quentintarrantino
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>James is only nine when his daemon settles.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Flight Risk

James is only nine when his daemon settles. He locks himself away in the monk’s hole at Skyfall and when Kincaid sees him again Aesina has taken the form of a big grey wolf, her eyes a piercing blue that watched the world angled always towards her human, ready to defend him from whatever could be out there to do harm. At first the caretaker thought perhaps that it was just a phase, as they grow children’s daemons would occasionally favor certain different forms. However as time wore on it became apparent that she would never choose another and Kincaid would keep the image of a steely eyed boy standing in the doorway to Skyfall with a suitcase in hand and his other fisted in the fur of his daemon for a long time.

The children at the boarding schools were wary of him and ignorance breeds contempt, he wouldn’t truly grow in size and stature until sixteen or seventeen and so the school bullies made a pastime of shoving him into the dirt. James would always remember one particularly nasty encounter when he had been walking out on the grounds, no older than eleven. They had struck him hard across the face, ganging up and kicking him until the boy was sure he wouldn’t be able to draw another breath. And suddenly as it had began the kicking stopped and when he peeked from between his arms Aesina in all her magnificence had her paw planted on one of the bully’s throats. A daemon did not touch a human that was not their own but there she was, her hackles raised and her teeth inches from his face. They fled and Aesina licked the blood from his split lip off his face gingerly, her ears flattened in sympathy. “You cause me a great deal of trouble little one.” She had told him softly between rasps from her tongue.

\--

Q’s daemon settled at a rather unremarkable time, a sleek black raven that the teachers took as a sign of his intelligence, others at his school were also settling. The only unusual thing about Q was that his daemon was male, a rare trait not seen often. From the library Fuga would rest upon the piles of books as his human would read about stories in far off lands, providing witty banter for them to pass the time. His lanky form always looked funny to him but with Fuga on his shoulder he felt more grown-up, even if he fussed over him.

Q’s first crush was named Trevor Hopkins, a boy he would see at football practice (his father had made him join in a vain attempt to make him pack on muscle mass of some kind). His daemon was one of the only he knew who had not settled and his classmates had snickered behind his back it was because he was stupid but Q at that point still had feelings soft enough to imagine a more romantic angle. Perhaps Trevor just hadn’t made up his mind what he wanted to be yet, Q empathized but now he couldn’t picture Fuga as anything else than what he was. They would often stay by the field after practice together, Trevor and he, smoking cigarettes and picking at the scabs on their knees. His daemon was named Bella, she favored the form of a basset hound which Q would often find amusing due to the fact that she would toddle after her human with her chest heaving.

It was the week before Christmas break that Trevor kissed him, their fingers awkwardly weaving together. Fuga and Bella eyed each other but they did not touch. To share your body was something entirely different than sharing your soul, Q might’ve had a crush but he was entirely too selfish to share Fuga with anyone, even Trevor Hopkins. When they broke apart Trevor smiled at him and bent down to reach for Q’s daemon that was standing next to his leg. Fuga replied by making an awful hissing noise and taking flight. Terror gripped Q as he took a giant step back, touching a daemon was taboo and he had only seen it done when people were in love. His parents touched each other’s daemons affectionately but the idea of sharing something so intimate with Trevor Hopkins of all people made him sick. He shook his head from side to side and ran all the way home, when he returned from holiday he heard from word of mouth that Hopkins’ daemon had settled at long last but they did not speak again.

\--

Aesina was everything James missed about his mother. When nights were rough and nightmares plagued him he could always depend on her warm body pressed against his and her soft fur to get him through. She protected him and ensured that he was never harmed. After that incident on school grounds the professors had been baffled by her lack of regard for humans, they punished James for failing to keep her controlled and they had served their long hours in detention together. The purpose of the attack was achieved though, no bullies ever came near with ill intentions again, too afraid of the boy’s wolf-daemon.

As time wore on and James grew into a man he told Kincaid that he would not go back to boarding school, that fall he was enrolled in a local village school to serve out the rest of his required education. After classes they would spend countless hours out on the grounds, exploring. Bond grew particularly fond of the small chapel a ways from the house where his parents were buried. Aesina remembered much more about them than he did and sometimes they’d sit in the rotted pews and he would listen to her tell him stories about his mum and father at Christmas.

Sixteen was the time the caretaker decided he had to start being useful and muscles began to show on his arms as he grew leaner and stronger with all the work done around the property. Aesina would tease him as they walked through the underbrush with dinner on his back and rifle in the crook of his arms. “Think yourself a big strong man now do you?” her lips drawn back over her teeth in a kind of funny smile that always made him laugh.

\--

Q had a morbid fascination with the degrees of separation a daemon could undergo before pain was caused. Fuga often protested but in the name of science and a disapproving glare he would concede. Q was certain it was a muscle that could be used, stretched and worked. The first time he only went a few feet and it felt as though his heart was going to be punched out of his chest, it hurt so bad he ran back to Fuga and held him close, stroking his feathers.

The experiment was abandoned after only a few attempts, it wasn’t healthy, the agony he endured only made him cling tighter to his daemon.

His graduation was in summer, he remembered his mother telling him how regal he looked with Fuga next to him (‘like a real scholar’). University would be the only next plausible step, his father demanded it of him and Q felt like maybe he should indulge him this one wish since he had turned out to disappoint him at every other turn.

\--

Bond never made it to graduation, MI6 swooped him up at seventeen and he never looked back since. He had wanted to enlist in the military, he packed his things and drove all the way to London to the offices, Aesina said nothing the whole trip, her displeasure radiating off of her in waves. “Why are you upset with me now.” He had asked, looking over to her as she curled up in the passenger seat.

“You know why.” She had told him, narrowing her eyes.

The soldiers standing around in the enlisting center were laughing but their curious gazes stopped them as Aesina trailed behind James when he walked through the door. One of their daemons, a plain tabby cat leered towards her and she responded with a harsh snap inches from the creature’s flank making the soldier jump back in surprise with his daemon in tow. Bond had turned to look over his shoulder at his other half, her fur on edge. “She’s in a bad mood this morning, my apologies.” He feigned a smile.

It was true but it still earned him a withering glare from his daemon as she sulked beside him. The officer gave him some forms and he took his seat at a table to begin filling them out. Aesina whined and put her head in his lap, nudging her nose against his elbow preventing him from writing. He was too busy fighting her at the moment that he barely noticed the bright eyed woman that slid next to him, her daemon taking the form of a sparrow.

“Looks like enlistment isn’t agreeing with you.” She said, catching his attention. Bond looked over to her and sighed, clearly over being told what was and wasn’t the best career move. “Have you considered MI6?”

Her daemon walked down her arm with a business card in her mouth, setting it gently down on the table as she walked away. Her name badge was blank and her jacket told him she was an employee at the government branch, their table was a ways down from the enlistment’s.

James never did fill out that paperwork.

\--

Q knew who the man was when he saw him, his arms lugging a box of office supplies to his new desk. They had been talking about him during training, the illustrious 007. Maybe all the agents were as well groomed as he was; he couldn’t be sure because this was the first one he had seen. He wasn’t even entirely certain how many 00s there were in the whole system. James Bond walked right past him without batting an eye but his wolf-daemon paused, turning and meeting Fuga’s eyes, it was the first time in a long time he had ever seen his daemon flustered, feathers bristling but not in an unfriendly way.

“What was that all about?” he asked him when he resumed trying to find his branch. Fuga flew in a nervous circle and settled on top of his head in the nest that was his unkempt hair and shivered slightly.

“I’m sure I don’t know what you’re referring to.” Fuga retorted making Q chuckle.

\--

Bond knew there was a new Quartermaster but he had been completely unprepared when he saw him for the first time. Romance was never something James had been good at. Sex? He was the best. But romance, putting time and effort into one relationship, this was where he fell short. He knew how to keep his head but he was ashamed at Aesina, who gave them both away as she gave the Quartermaster’s daemon another look. He felt pleasure course through her, the sight of his daemon had affected her in a way he was not familiar with. When they made their way into the elevator he glanced down at her, a smirk on his face. “See something you like?” he asked.

She didn’t reply but she didn’t have to, it was noticeable in the way she ducked her head what was going on.

Aesina was a fickle partner when it came to love. She seldom showed vulnerability in that way and whenever he slept with a woman they were usually affronted by her lack of interest in their daemons. The only daemon she had ever touched was Vesper’s. They had loved her so fiercely and after her death she never truly recovered, it was the first time he had ever had to comfort her, after a lifetime of her coming to his aid. It was maybe her attraction to that raven-daemon that made him stop by the Q branch more and more frequently.

\--

Q had quickly overcome Fuga’s mystifying attraction to Bond’s daemon and in its place came annoyance. Bond liked to touch things, innuendos aside it was very counter-productive to work, he would come whenever he had spare time to frustrate him and pick through whatever he was tinkering with, asking stupid questions and smiling that horrible smile whenever he could see how exasperated the Quartermaster was.

The interns would watch their arguments like it was some kind of trashy television program, and however nasty the banter got it would seem the true nature of their relationship was given away through the behavior of their daemons.

Fuga and Q depended so entirely on each other the first time he felt him touch Bond’s daemon he felt it like a blow to the stomach. He knew he wasn’t alone because 007’s head snapped up from a ways away and both sets of eyes honed in on their daemons, Fuga’s wing was outstretched, touching the wolf square in the chest. Warmth spread all throughout Q’s body, along with a bitter twinge of betrayal, thankfully most of the office was out on lunch for this would’ve been quite a spectacle to behold. James did not speak to him for a week and it was hard to sleep at night with Fuga’s aching heart wondering where Bond’s daemon was (Aesina, she was called it would seem).

\--

Bond would forever curse how much trouble meeting the gaze of a man passing in a hallway would cause him. He was in Q branch so frequently that the interns and workers there all knew his name and they stopped looking surprised or interested in him or Aesina whenever they made their presence known. Even Q ceased to look up, so familiar was his image in his peripherals.

“Look what the wolf drug in.” he would say, not even glancing up from his laptop.

“What new toys have you crafted for me today?” Bond would shoot back. Aesina had stopped even pretending to compose herself at this point and would trot forward and settle on the ground beside Q’s desk so that Fuga could perch beside her, both of them chatting away happily and poking fun at their humans.

“We’re actually trying to work if you don’t mind,” the Quartermaster told him, sipping his Earl Grey. “Don’t have time for you to break things.”

James ignored this and grabbed an abandoned chair from a few desks down, returning to turn it around and straddle it. “You say that every day.”

“Yes but perhaps this time I actually mean it 007. Does MI6 pay you to loiter around Q branch and disrupt my employees?” Q snapped.

\--

Around month eight they stopped being so hostile, Q realized that the struggle was lost when Bond left on a mission and Fuga would fly in nervous circles around the Quartermaster, stirring up paperwork and making awful crooning noises in the base of his throat. The empty spaces leaked into him from his daemon, how much he missed Aesina and it drove him mad.

Maybe that was all it took but when he was called to do intake for 007 the night he got back he was all too glad to do it. Driving out to MI6 he saw him for the first time in several weeks, looking jet lagged and worn out but still strong enough to give him a coy smile. Fuga flew right to Aesina and Q watched with a raised eyebrow as the wolf-daemon batted his own playfully, joy seeped in unabashed from the raven.

“Miss me more than you care to admit Q?” Bond told him. The Quartermaster sighed, acting put out as he pulled out a lump of paperwork and shoved it into 007’s arms.

“I was in shambles the whole time.” He said sarcastically, tucking a pen into Bond’s suit pocket. “You know the drill, start filling the forms out, do you have your catalogue of items on you or do I have to waste time tracking someone down for it?”

Bond’s lips twitched as he shifted the forms and files into one hand as he reached into his pocket and pulled it out, handing it over. “Everything accounted for.” He sounded pleased.

“You mean you haven’t broken a single thing for once in your life, progress, keep it up and maybe MI6 might be in the green next quarter.” Q said.

After that the two retreated to their different corners of the office while their daemons sat in the middle of the gap, and while both were trying to work it was impossible not to hear Fuga’s and Aesina’s talking.

“James is taking the piss, he thought about yours more than he cares to admit.” The wolf-daemon murmured to him. Q looked over his shoulder to see a stiff backed Bond, he felt a smile creeping onto his face as he desperately tried to fight it off.

“I wonder when they’ll stop being so pigheaded about it.” Fuga told her seriously. Now it was 007’s turn to look around and they met gazes, both of their daemons looking up to watch the exchange with interest.

“Interesting.” Aesina said thoughtfully.

“Definitely.” Fuga intoned.

\--

\--

“The state of the world is a mess.” Q spoke up from the couch while picking at his take out. Bond looked up from the kitchen as he poured himself a glass of wine.

“It’s a dark place.” He agreed. The news flickered on the TV, something about a terrorist attack that both the agent and the Quartermaster had known about for weeks before it hit the media. The chill of London was finding its way into the flat despite their best efforts and Q looked over his food to see Fuga snuggled deep into Aesina’s fur as she dozed lightly on the rug.

Bond took a sip from his wine and set the bottle down to go resume sitting next to Q, one arm falling over his shoulders like they’d been doing this for years and they fell back into their normal positions with Q slightly leaning against his chest as the TV droned on about how many people died.

007 scoffed at the death toll. “Now they’re exaggerating, I think thanks to my handy work we cut that number in half.”

“I think maybe you like to think yourself a better agent than you really are sometimes.” The Quartermaster told him, uninterested in the programming and preferring to pick the pieces of chicken out of his noodles.

Aesina’s ears perked a bit and she lifted her head to look at Q, her affronted expression evident as Fuga shook himself clean of any lingering fur and fluttered to rest at Bond’s knee. “Playful banter dear.” Q told the she-wolf as he flicked her a piece of chicken that she happily snapped up.

James absentmindedly stroked Fuga’s head as the daemon cooed the best a raven could contentedly. “Q likes to lash out when confronted with emotion.” The agent told the bird.

“The same could be said of you.” The Quartermaster told him sourly. “I’ve seen brick walls with less stunt in their growth. You can’t take his side on this.” He added the last part to Fuga who was still too busy being pet to respond. “Unbelievable, does no one understand me.”

Bond chuckled, taking another sip of his wine and settling in a little further and trying to pick a piece of chicken out for himself from Q’s noodles only to get poked rather hard by a set of chopsticks. “Ouch.” He complained loudly.

“Save it for someone who cares.” The Quartermaster grumped, spearing another piece and sending it Aesina’s way.

“Boys please.” The wolf-daemon spoke up from the floor as she gobbled the food down and got up, stretching a bit before padding over to Q and attempting to crawl into his lap. The sight was a little comical as it was very likely she weighed more than the Quartermaster did and with several expressions of displeasure with her actions she eventually got up onto the couch, stretching out across Bond, Q, and then taking up the remainder of the free cushion.

“I swear Bond it’s like you aim to inconvenience me in every way possible.” The Quartermaster sighed, motioning to the bulk of the wolf that was resting on him. James smirked, not taking his eyes off the television.

“It’s a good thing you wouldn’t know what to do if you weren’t here bullying me within an inch of my life. You scrawny prat.” 007 told him and for once Q didn’t have a good answer and just let his head fall against Bond’s shoulder as he continued eating and there was a strange heaving from Fuga’s shoulders that might’ve been laughter.  


End file.
